The 22nd Montreal World Film Festival announced its jury awards onMonday, and the Grand Prix of the Americas went to “The Quarry,”directed by Marion Hänsel (Belgium/France) and “Full Moon” (“Vollmond“)by Fredi M. Murer (Switzerland/Germany). In addition, the jury awarded aSpecial Grand Prix to “Sunbird,” by Wang Xueqi and Yang Liping fromChina. The big winner, however, was Manon Briand for the film, “2Seconds.” Briand took home four awards, including the Best Directorprize, Prix de Montreal for best First Fiction Feature film of thefestival, the Fedex award for Best Canadian feature film and theCDN$25,000 Telefilm Canada award for the best Canadian film chosen bythe public. Best Actress went to Ingred Rubio in Eduardo Mignogna’s “ElFaro” (“The Lighthouse“) from Argentina and Spain, Best Actor went toHugo Weaving for his role in Craig Monahan’s Australian film, “TheInterview.” Best Screenplay went to Rafa Russo for writing “The Man WithRain in his Shoes” (dir. Maria Ripoll–Spain/U.K.) and the Best ArtisticContribution went to Takashi Kako for the music in “The Quarry.”

The International Press Award (FIPRESCI) was given to “Aiwo Kouhito“(“Begging For Love“) by Hideyuki Hirayama (Japan), with a specialmention given to “The Interview,” by Craig Monahan (Australia). Inaddition, the FIPRESCI jury “appreciated” “Banoo-Ye Ordibehesht” (“TheMay Lady“) by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad “for its courageous andwell-documented portrayal of women in contemporary Iran. The EcumenicalJury awarded its prize to Mignogna for “El Faro.”

>> IFFM To Open With Carnahan’s Blood

The 20th Independent Feature Film Market is set to open on September18th with a screening of Joe Carnahan’s upcoming Lions Gate release,“Blood Guts Bullets & Octane.” Carnahan wrote, directed, edited andstarred in the feature, his first, and will be on hand to introduce thefilm. The film screened at the 1997 IFFM, and was the first film toreceive finishing funds from Next Wave Films.

>> Telluride Wraps Its 25th Edition

The Telluride Film Festival wrapped its Silver Anniversary edition onMonday, showcasing an impressive list of films, including Todd Solondz’s“Happiness,” “John Boorman’s “The General,” Erick Zonca’s “The Dreamlifeof Angels,” Walter Salles’ “Central Station” and Samira Makhmalbaf’s“The Apple.” Makhmalbaf is the 18 year-old daughter of noted Iranian directorMohsen Makhmalbaf, whose film, “The Silence“, along with his daughter’sfilm is screening at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Inaddition to the features lineup, Telluride also programmed tributes toactress Meryl Streep (“Sophie’s Choice,” “Silkwood,” “Dancing atLughnasa“), cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (“Apocalypse Now,” “Reds,”“The Last Emperor“) and filmmaker Susumu Hani (“She and He,” “Song OfBwana Toshi,” “Bride Of The Andes“). Streep’s tribute contained clipsand an onstage interview (“Lughnasa” screened at the fest), Storaro’stribute included a collection of clips and a screening of his latestfilm, Carlos Saura’s “Tango” (grand prize winner for technicalachievement at the 1998 Cannes film festival), while Hani’s tributeincluded a screening of “She and He.”

[The full lineup for the 1998 Telluride Film Festival is also available at indieWIRE.com]